SAVAGE 4

22.

[chapter mainly focuses around Harlem💙🧸]

Mother's Day arrived and left quickly. It was Jersey's first time experiencing the holiday. She received a few gifts from Malcolm. She woke up to flowers. Her eyes widened when she realized blossoms of pink roses were placed everywhere. Someway somehow, Malcolm managed to set up everything before she awakened.

He surprised her with vibrant flowers and followed it up with a few gifts. Jersey didn't receive a new car or house. However, she did receive a charm bracelet, a new juicer to match her appliances in the kitchen, and a few vintage pieces that she fell in love with.

The months continued to roll. Malcolm's birthday arrived and left quickly. He turned 28 and felt good about it. Malcolm was a successful billionaire. He'd traveled to several countries, met many people, and accomplished many goals. Malcolm was satisfied with making it out of the hood and creating a name for himself.

One of his biggest accomplishments was meeting Jersey and creating a family with her. It gave him a reason to keep fighting. He stayed on a straight path and avoided dirty habits such as drinking alcohol and participating in illegal activities. Malcolm was a changed man who was focusing solely on his family and career. He was genuinely thankful for Jersey and Harlem.

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JULY

Jersey was in the middle of preparing for Harlem's first birthday. It was a bittersweet moment for her. Part of her was excited that her baby was healthy and growing up. However, the other part of her was sad. Harlem was no longer a newborn baby. He'd grown so much since she brought him home from the hospital.

The tot grew bigger and was crawling everywhere in the house. Jersey and Malcolm made sure to baby-proof the rooms to ensure he would be safe. He was on his way to walking, but Harlem was still rusty. They weren't worried about it since he was already pulling up. The couple figured he would be walking before their wedding.

Not too long ago, the infant said dada. Jersey caught it but didn't have time to record him. She grew excited and didn't feel upset about Harlem saying his dad's name as his first word. Jersey was happy to see her baby trying to communicate through language. Harlem knew what hey and goodbye meant in English and Spanish. He babbled a lot and attempted to repeat the words his parents would say. They took that as a sign of progress. Overall, Malcolm was proud. He liked that his son's first word was dada. It brought joy to his heart.

Malcolm took Jersey and Harlem out to Connecticut for his first birthday. Jersey thought it would be a good idea to celebrate with Abshir. He had a busy schedule and was always working. She figured he would want to see his grandson in person instead of Facetime.

Jersey took the liberty of planning Harlem's entire birthday weekend. On Friday afternoon, Jersey's sister, Tyler, took photos of her nephew. The theme was safari (or wild one), so Jersey purchased the backdrop and other decorations for his photoshoot. She knew her baby loved animals, so she chose the wildlife theme.

Tyler immediately went into photographer mode. She used her experience to capture Harlem and his wittiness. The backdrop was painted jungle green, sage, lime, and brown. Trees decorated the setup, along with animal props-such as an elephant, a lion, a zebra, and other animals.

The tot sat on a white chair. He was dressed in a cute suspender outfit with no shirt. There was a yellow bow with green and brown suspenders. Harlem sat there looking around with a puzzled facial expression. He kept his eyes on Jersey while Tyler tried her best to make him smile.

"Smile, baby." Jersey cooed with a smirk on her face. She was excited and loved this moment. Harlem was too busy trying to figure out what was going on. Randomly, he felt the need to stick his tongue out, so Tyler captured it.